1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to supports for workmen who must perform their work in a constant kneeling position. The support must perform the functions of (1) protecting the knees of the user over a sustained period of use (2) distribute the workman's weight over an increased area and (3) serve to protect or guard the surface being worked. More particularly, the present invention relates to a knee board or kneeling board especially adapted for use in finishing cement or concrete floors and slabs. The work of smoothing and finishing the surface of a concrete slab is, of course, done prior to hardening of the cement and while the cement is still green and wet or moist on the surface. This invention is directed to a single board which accommodates both knees and both toes allowing the workman to work with finishing trowels in a full kneeling position without the necessity of strap-on devices for the knees or legs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the construction industry, concrete slabs are commonly finished by hand troweling. The work is usually done by assuming a full kneeling position and using one or two hand trowels as the workman moves rearwardly across the surface of the uncured cement surface. Working under these conditions requires some form of protection for the workman's knees both in terms of flotation or support on the surface of the soft concrete and from the standpoint of cushioning or easing the pressure on the workman's knees over sustained periods of time. In addition, the support apparatus must also be such as to avoid as much damage as possible to the soft surface of the uncured cement. Since the workman must traverse the slab, whatever knee protection and support is utilized must also move with the workman across the soft surface. One common form of protection for floor finisher's knees which has been used in the past, with many attendant problems, are devices which fasten to the user's knees or legs with straps, belts or the like which hold the knee pad to the leg in the kneeling position. The Russell U.S. Pat. No. 2,476,565, issued July 19, 1949 and the Zirves U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,877 are examples of such types of knee or leg engaging pads. Th patent to Zirves, although not directed specifically to cement finishing, illustrates a typical clip-on knee pad. The devices of both of these patents are necessarily flexible so as to be worn or wrapped around the knee and thus do not function in a satisfactory manner to support the workman on a soft surface such as wet concrete. Soft pliable knee pads of this type are thus not generally acceptable for cement finishing. In addition, this type of knee pad does not make provision for supporting the use's toes while in a kneeling position which is a problem on a wet soft surface. Attempts have been made to combine the soft cushion type knee protectors such as discussed above with hard surface flotation boards which accommodate both the knee and the toe of each individual leg of the user. Examples of this type of strap-on knee protectors are illustrated in the to Emmett U.S. Pat. No. 2,719,576, issued Oct. 4, 1955 and the Ramon U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,458, issued Apr. 9, 1963. These two types of devices are similar in that a soft or pliable resilient cushion member is mounted on the top of a hard surface flotation board. The board is usually formed from wood or other hard smooth surface material. These two later patents have the same drawbacks as previously described in that the use of straps which engage the knee or the calf of the leg become extremely uncomfortable over long periods of time when in the kneeling position. These devices are also extremely cumbersome when considering that a separate device is utilized for each leg an must be dragged across the soft wet surface as the finisher moves backwardly. A further example of the individual kneeling board is disclosed in the Hammond U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,784, issued Aug. 31, 1982. This type of individual knee and toe board also combines a hard surface wooden board or the like with a cushion surface on the upper side. Although the prior art contains examples of knee pads and floor mats in general such as the Rundell U.S. Pat. No. 830,103, issued Sept. 4, 1906 and the Solin U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,273 issued May 16, 1967, such soft and pliable pads do not offer a solution to the problems inherent to knee protection and soft surface cement finishing of the type under consideration.
As a result of the difficulties and inadequacies of prior art support devices and knee protectors available to the cement finisher, it is still by far the most common practice to simply utilize a piece of plywood, oftentimes with no knee padding or protection whatsoever to ease the pressure on the workman's knees. The presence of straps or buckles about the knee and calf when used have the effect of limiting blood circulation over long periods of kneeling. Usually two such plywood boards are utilized with the workman moving from one board backwardly to another, moving the previously used board to a new position and thus incrementally moving across the wet concrete surface from one board to the other. This common practice results in severe knee injury when practiced over an extended number of years. The result is a very slow and progressive disabling of the user's knees and attendant pain and discomfort. In addition, this process of hard board placement and movement across the soft concrete surface entails additional work for the craftsman since each time the board is moved, dragged or lifted off of the uncured cement surface a considerable amount of cleanup of that area must take place. This is augmented by the fact that the wood surface absorbs moisture and the concrete adheres to it. The present practice of hard knee board use with all of its problems is evidence of the inadequacies or the undesirabilities of known protection devices.